Nestle Waters North America Announces New President & CEO

Current Nestle Waters North America Inc. (NWNA) President and CEO Kim Jeffery plans to step down from that role after 20 years, and 34 years with the company, to assume a non-executive chairman position effective Feb. 1, 2013. He will be succeeded by Tim Brown, president and CEO of Nestle Canada, who has been appointed president and CEO of Nestle Waters North America Inc.

Brown has served as president and CEO of Nestle Canada since 2010, overseeing global brands including Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine, Buitoni, Nescafe, Kit Kat and Smarties. The total Nestle Canada business employs 3,500 people in 21 facilities. Prior to that, Brown spent 22 years at NWNA, most recently heading retail operations as executive vice president and general manager until transitioning to his current role.

During his time at Nestle Canada, Brown oversaw the introduction of popular new products, developed the Nestle Canada Vision and Values with inputs from across the workforce and initiated a continuous excellence process to meet a Nestle worldwide standard. Under Brown, Nestle Canada was recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Canada in 2012.

Jeffery joined the company in 1978 as central division sales manager, and advanced over the years to assume the company's top position in 1992. Jeffery has been at the vanguard of the rapidly growing bottled water industry. Under the leadership of Jeffery, NWNA has grown organically from a $650-million-in-revenues business 20 years ago into the leading bottled water company in North America. With sales of $4.4 billion in 2011, the company holds seven of the top 10 U.S. brands, including Poland Spring, Arrowhead, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Zephyrhills and Nestle Pure Life.

Brown will assume his new position at NWNA in February 2013 and joins the CEOs of the other Nestle U.S. operating companies, including Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Professional, Nestle Purina PetCare and Nestle USA. In Canada, Brown will be succeeded by Shelley Martin; she is currently president of Nestle Canada's frozen division.